Fridge Vindaloo

The fridge was getting silly with crowded containers of leftovers, so I took those that were not certifiable biohazards and tried to convert them into something good. To start, some of the local 10-grain mix went in the rice cooker- it’s a beautiful thing, since some dissolve while others remain toothsome- they cover the full spectrum of doneness and have a really rich flavor. Then, the baked sweet potatoes from last night, the pheasant broth and the carrots therefrom, toasted fenugreek, cumin, fennel, and mustard seeds, the braised fennel, about half the meat from a coconut I beat apart the other day, and the last of the peanut soup all went for a merry spin in the food processor. While that was churning, I added some powders to the rest of the already-seasoned burger meat from last night and formed it around skewers, then put them in the big sautée pan.

While the meat sizzled, I chopped our own green beans from the freezer and added them to sweated onion, shredded chard, and a bit of vindaloo paste. The meatsicles went on a nice little salad with a soy-sesame dressing. Once we had eaten the first course, I deglazed all the crispy bits of meat and onion with a splash of wine, then dumped the green mixture in and finished them with a little yogurt. By this point the purée was bubbling nicely. All told, it worked pretty well; the orange curry had a rich depth of flavor, and the greens/beans were frankly awesome. I found one more beer in the door of the fridge, so I even had a delicious beverage to go with this healthy, efficient goodness. I can totally see the back of the fridge now.